Ark...Who goes there?

I am currently working on a carved semi-dimensional mural project among my other projects.  A local church has hired me to create a piece based on the Noah's Ark story.  I suppose I could get into a discussion about my own religious beliefs, but I don't think that's important.  What is important is that it serves my client well, and is something I can enjoy working on.  It is a memorial piece for the father of a good friend.  I'm happy to participate.

Having said that- I bagan the project with a general plan. I would include a quote from near the end of the Noah's Ark story and include the name of the church and person for whom the memorial is being created.

I began by doing something I have needed to do for awhile- I resurfaced the cnc table.  Basically, this means I removed a small portion of the top of the table in order to bring the surface to a smooth state and for it to be perfectly in balance with the router.  Once that was done, I loaded up some pvc and cut the border and lettering.  Next, I took an image of my very loose sketch and converted that to black and white (greyscale) and carved it into a second piece of pvc.  This primarily gives me the rough location of all the animals and the ark. 

Once that was complete, I have begun to take magic sculpt and sculpt details into the material.  I've begun on the Ark and trees...

I work on the piece with the border removed, but included it here so you could see them together.  Once I finish the sculpting, I'll begin painting it!